Namesakes in the Workplace
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I should clarify that before 9am I am answering these calls for a different department. I prefer not to answer with my last name because then people ring back and ask for me directly when I can't help them with their query. I do say can you call back and ask for Matt *lastname* but because I don't supply my last name in the first place they get annoyed because they think that is me. I don't know why people would think I would refer to myself in the third person and ask them to call me back after 9. This happened twice this morning. I guess I should just supply my last name, or stop answering phones.
Mathew Crothers wrote:
I don't know why people would think I would refer to myself in the third person and ask them to call me back after 9.
That is pretty common. I called a car dealership the other day and Joe said "when you come in, ask for Joe." It's shorter than saying "when you come in, ask for me. My name is Joe."
Driven to the ARMs by x86.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
There are 4 people including myself who use my name at my workplace, in the same office. Each one is in a different department (I am a developer, one's an account manager, one's in F&A and another in sales and marketing). I will often get calls for the others, which can be interesting. "Aw mate, you coming for golf today?" --- "sorry, who is this?" "I've got Jane Doe from Bob's Legal Firm on the line, she wants to know why the products she ordered haven't arrived yet." --- "Ah... wrong person." "I AM NOT PAYING THIS??! WHERE DO YOU GET OFF ON CHARGING THAT MUCH, FOR A [PRODUCT]?? THIS OTHER COMPANY DOES IT FOR HALF THAT?! I WANT TO SPEAK TO YOUR PRICING MANAGER!" --- "Sure thing, I'll put you through..." (seriously, this call happened... paraphrased of course) Keeps my day interesting :) Calls for me are "I need report X from 2 days ago" and "production is down, fix it" and "I have this urgent item, due three days ago, can you do it four days ago???", you know, the usual...
Typical n-tiered architecture: DB <-> Junk(0) <-> ... <-> Junk(n-1) <-> Pretty
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I should clarify that before 9am I am answering these calls for a different department. I prefer not to answer with my last name because then people ring back and ask for me directly when I can't help them with their query. I do say can you call back and ask for Matt *lastname* but because I don't supply my last name in the first place they get annoyed because they think that is me. I don't know why people would think I would refer to myself in the third person and ask them to call me back after 9. This happened twice this morning. I guess I should just supply my last name, or stop answering phones.
I agree with Max, even if you don't want to use your last name you should use the full name of the person to call after 9. The person on the other end of the line probably thinks you are an ignorant pratt for putting them off till after 9 when you are obviously there in the office.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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I agree with Max, even if you don't want to use your last name you should use the full name of the person to call after 9. The person on the other end of the line probably thinks you are an ignorant pratt for putting them off till after 9 when you are obviously there in the office.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
Read above reply. I do tell them to call back for Matt *lastname*
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Read above reply. I do tell them to call back for Matt *lastname*
Missed that! :-O
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
There are three people with my first name, one being the owner of the company. My name comes up first in the automated phone directory and the owner is not listed at all. I get a few calls a week from someone looking for the owner. Since I can see if his auto is in the parking lot from my window, if he isn't here, I just tell them "he isn't here right now", otherwise I usually forward the call to the office manager. Once I got a call from a Penny Stock Broker (cold call with a "hot stock recomendation" - looking for the owner), and I told him, in a very stern voice, to take "my" name off his call list - that guy would not shut up and let me tell him he got the wrong person :laugh:
Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
The best nickname we had was "the arthritis lady." Now, I know that sounds terrible to make fun of someone with a debilitating disease, but here's what really happened: One day a group of us were in the break room talking about the new secretary who had some very nice features on her chest. One of the guys was describing "them" with his hands about chest high, fingers cupped, etc. You know the gesture. About then the new secretary herself walked in and the guy said, without missing a beat, "And my uncle really had bad arthritis." The secretary saw all that and said "You should be ashamed of yourselves, making fun of someone with arthritis." To which we could no longer control ourselves. I think it was about an hour before we could stop laughing. And from that day on, she was "the arthritis lady."
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
I did find that first names lacked variety in the UK. At work there were 2 Matts, 3 Mikes and 2 Andrews (more if you count the sister company that was on the same site) in a small company of around 35 employees. At school it was 3 Chrises and 2 Daves and probably more but escapes my memory at this point... I went to a school where there were more boys than girls, so there weren't the similar sort of overlaps for girls' names, and there have definitely been more male colleagues than female ones since I entered this career. I have a feeling the situation is a little better in the US, AU and NZ, but probably about the same. So why people get upset over getting "the wrong Matt" on the phone, or assume that they will always get "the same Matt" on the phone when it's a business number and therefore could be shared in an office, I don't really know... (You'd expect less of this problem for a home number or a mobile number, of course...) At work, the lady that tended to pick up the phone asked which of the Matts or Andrews was being called for if she couldn't tell from the context of the conversation to that point, and if that failed, the "wrong Matt" or "wrong Andrew" would politely forward the call to the "right Matt" or "right Andrew". Can't be that hard...
Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...
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Which one did you use? Dot or Net? Bryce
MCAD --- To paraphrase Fred Dagg - the views expressed in this post are bloody good ones. --
Publitor, making Pubmed easy. http://www.sohocode.com/publitorOur kids books :The Snot Goblin, and Book 2 - the Snotgoblin and Fluff The Snotgoblin for the Ipad
Dang, you beat me to it! :-D
Will Rogers never met me.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
In my office, we all answer to the same name from time to time, but it varies a bit, and none of the variations can be repeated here. ;)
Will Rogers never met me.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
I work in a small company (30 employees) and we have 3 Bretts and 2 James'. Phone calls are generally no problem as each is in a different department but people will assume an email address so as the original Brett in the company I tend to get a lot of email meant for the other two. Cheers, Brett (#1)
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
So Johnny Cash was wrong?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
Mathew Crothers wrote:
Anyone else have namesake issues at their work
Yes.
Und wenn du lange in einen abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
Mathew Crothers wrote:
I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt.
And how would someone outside your little group be expected to know that in advance. Where I last worked there were three Richards but only one James; both fairly common names in the area where I live.
The best things in life are not things.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
Having a name which is quite common and also gender neutral there are quite a few here called Chris. In our team of 18 we currently have 3 Matts, 2 Pauls, and 2 Andys. As an organisation (we are not very large) we have 2 Andy Smiths (there have been some payroll mix ups in the past), 2 Paul Smiths and 1 Paula Smith. Also one team has a John Surname Snr and a John Surname Jnr (the Surname isn't the real one) in it. Would love to say they are not related, but they are father and son. It is quite a specialised and technical job they have.
Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
Sorry, you are being too nice. Instead, tell them to call back after 9AM and ask for Elvis. :)
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra] posting about Crystal Reports here is like discussing gay marriage on a catholic church’s website.[Nishant Sivakumar]
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.